Electrical connectors having plug and receptacle parts which can be mated together for interconnecting cable wires by pins and sockets are well-known and have been found to be a highly reliable form of establishing releasable electrical connections under a great variety of environments. The cable wires are typically enclosed by a shield such as a metal braid for grounding at the cable ends to prevent radio frequency and electromagnetic energy in the surroundings from interfering with the equipment to which the cables connect. Also, such shields are useful in preventing cross-interference with other cables.
There has been considerable concern expressed about the possibility of nuclear explosions generating an electrical pulse (EMP) of such magnitude as to destroy communications and wipe out data bases in computers, for example, over a relatively large geographical area. Such a problem not only has severe consequences for the public generally, but also would be devastating on military electronics. Shielding of sensitive electronic circuits, components, and cables by enclosing them within a conductive member that would conduct such EMP energy to the ground can be effective, if properly handled. However, any gap that may exist in the conductive path to ground could result in destruction of the protective circuitry and, therefore, to be fully effective such grounding protection must exist not only on the cables themselves but also at any connector.